Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-04-10

II NCdIS Olhs ~
preserver of the human body Is the sea-
The captains 81 years are lightly worn
"Not over So" any one would say VINO
made a guess on his age. Born In Connec-
ticut, with a generous inheritance OF rug
ged Scotch blood in his veins, he has both
Ike spirit and physique which enable him
to 90 forth into N%eptune's kingdom with
out fear. Sharp brown eyes, q rosy com
plexion, sandy wwhiskers II mustache
and dark hair, grizzled a little-these, with
a short and comfortably stout body, a K
up the captains personnel-exaetly the
| kind of man, one can see ut 4 glance, VINO
would be undisyamed when Others would
be terror stricken.
Long voyages have been his fate OF late,
though he was for q long time in the At
lantic trade. Now he goes to Yokohama
and other places as distant, each voyage
consuming a year or the greater part OF 1t.
He commanded one ship for twenty-five
yenr, q long life for a ship without acct
dent. He was once wrecked and lost his
shin. His wife sailed with him for thirty
five years, and his children-twO sons and
two daughters-were also with him until
almost grown. In q few weeks he goes to
Spain, to Bilboa, which will be one OF his
shortest voyages.
why do you continue your voyages,
captain?n / asked. Don't you feel rs
though you had earned n life Of repose, and
don't you want to quit the sea?'
well" he said, ~ still go, partly from
necessity and partly because cant resist
the temptation. We seamen are honest
and simple minded; not able to cope with
the sharpers on land. The generally fleece
US and send us to sea again, whether we
will or no." ,
at always seems to MT that you rugged
men of the water know no fear. How is
it?" l asked. ,
1--WE are often anxious, OF course" said
the CAPTAIN. During wild weather we
have our minds on leaks and other pos
sible accidents; but as for fearing death
being absolutely afraid of what lies on the
other side o fit-why that never enters my
mind, nor any other commanders mind. "
Faith, religion, have they any?'
every few that | know are either blessed
or cursed by it. They think they have all
the hell here that they need. As for Nv
ling after death at all, they don't bother
about it. Perhaps they do and perhaps
they don't. At any rate, that's q fence
they don't Jump till they come to it,"
"Superstitions, captain, have you any;
Yonr profession is credited with plenty
~ am not troubled much that way. Blu
every man has his superstitions. 1 W tC
one. 1t is rats. When rats all leave q
ship before she sails | take it asa sign that
that ship is coming to grief, and wouldn't
care to sail in her"
us that a standard superstition? Ant
does disaster follow the emigration of rats.
"Yes, it is firmly believed in. have IT
from good authority that the rats get on
of the way of trouble"
Perhaps it is not so uncanny a sigI
after all. Possibly the rats gnawing and
burrowing everywhere are shreweder thai
we think. They may see signs of leaks
or have knowledge of r%Ottenness not dream
ed of by the master OF the ship?'
81 don't know how it is" said the cap
tain. ''but | believe in it. No ratless shll
shall carry me ont to sea if | know 1t
Some captains draw the line on Frida.
For me Friday was always lucky. But
know of a bark that launched on Friday
had several accidents happen on Friday
and finally went down on Friday"
Captain Mason says that sailors nov
are mostly S~candanavians. An American
before the mast is an exception. There ar
two reasons for this. One is that Amer
cans, as a rule, are so intelligent that the
climb Immediately out of an inferior pc
: sition into something better. Another, an
perhaps the better, is that the spirit oil tn
American is by nature against filling
~servile position. He will dig, shovel dirt
chop wood, perform the hardest labor, an
still feel a man; but he will not put hin
self in a place where he can be ordered
l. beaten, kicked or starved at the whim
another. He will be no mental servitC
for any man. Every order of service ths
requires servile obedience and n loss of sc
respect must be filled by foreigners. Amer
can lackeys, coachmen and walters are few
y The foreigner, used to feeling him self a
a inferior, GENES here and contedly TAKE
mental service. But his children, bor
d and bred here, have in them the spirit {
freedom which has made this the mo,
beautiful country on the earth, and the
feel themselves individuals, men and WI
men, with a personal dignity that refuse
to let them become serls.
Captain Mason is an expert in calcul.
ting time and distance. In twenty diffe
ent instances he has named ahead the dat
of arrival on a voyage of 100 days. He
but an Indifferent sightseer. Never WI
on the Brooklyn bridge in his life, an
never goes to see any great doings of an
kind when he is in a foreign port.
He lisa type Of a class that ere long wi
doubtless be utterly extinct. Steam h
almost driven canvass from the waves, an
with the final departure OF the sails 90 Il
sturdy captains of the past, the men WI
are picturesque and interesting in liter
ture and in lite. &C.